


Ripples

by Izzycle



Category: The Arcana (Visual Novel)
Genre: AU, M/M, MerMay, mermaid, semi fluff, shipping your own character with a friends is fine right?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-09
Updated: 2019-05-09
Packaged: 2020-02-28 18:28:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,456
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18761980
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Izzycle/pseuds/Izzycle
Summary: Dion watches humans and the way they interact





	Ripples

**Author's Note:**

> This is a piece to go along with something I drew. (https://izzys-doodles.tumblr.com/post/184747799640/just-couldnt-resist-having-dion-interacting-with)  
> Ryan is an apprentice by @ryanthatssogay on tumblr, who I commissioned to draw Dion for Mermay. Couldn’t get this idea out of my head until I wrote it down, just love the idea of my extremely shy Dion accidentally making a much more confident, flirty character all blushy...

Rings of water,spiralling from fingers as they lightly press against the water beneath them. Each circle reaching out, spreading itself thinner as it goes against the natural current and waves of the ocean.

Soft bubbles and foam rise to the surface every few moments, slight disturbances from whatever may be underneath the docks, mixed along with the ones caused from above. But it is those not caused by them, instead coming from underwater, that go unnoticed by people above the surface - or possibly they are just not recognised for what they are.

A flash of gold - one that could barely be seen. Was it really just out of the corner of your eye, or just the way the sun happened to glisten? The latter, of course, no one would consider anything close to the truth.

Inky shapes and shadows, swirling and flowing amongst the sandy bed of the sea. They must just be the imagination of an overacting mind - children making believe, or someone is more tired than they had realised.

 

Light shining down, breaching the layers of saltwater, glistening across the banks, seen from below. Thousands of tiny bubbles growing and popping with each crash of the waves, more active than the soft-flowing depths below.

Dark shapes pass overhead, bobbing along slowly, yet somehow not moving any further forward. Wooden structures, floating alongside a more solid wooden platform.

A muffled shout - was this the noise of one of those living amongst the vegetation, or just a disturbance drifting down from above. Something that was just the creaking in the above-world?

 

Two entirely different worlds, living alongside and yet so different from the other.

* * *

 

From below here, Dion was able to see, and notice, much more going on than the more oblivious creatures _(those who didn’t live within the sea’s depths)_. And more so than the fish and crustaceans that lived alongside him - _or it is possible that they just didn’t care enough to pay attention._

Not that it mattered if the above-world noticed... miles upon miles of water spread in front of him. Whereas, there was only so far those above could travel with ease.

So, what does it matter if his tail glimmers above the water once in a while? No one would know he was there, or even that he were something other than a fanatical story. None of the, unspoken, rules surrounding the merfolk would be broken... _surely?_

 

He was just so curious what these creatures were. They were similar to others of his kind, and yet they move differently from any other creatures he was in frequent contact with.

There is such a large world above the waves, and yet these beings only move so linear, have no depths that they can sink or rise against. No tails like those underneath to use through the air, no wings to sail across it with.

Instead they had 2 long limbs to stand upon, move their weight between - some times more graceful than he would have expected from such awkward bodies, and other times laughably worse. Sometimes, they too entered the waters, unable to stay under for too long, and flopping much slower and clumsily than would ever be useful to Dion’s world.

* * *

 

Dion had travelled across the sea, drifting - never finding somewhere to fully settle, and never coming within close quarters of human. That was, until he found himself settling at the docks of Vesuvia. Here is where he found himself become more daring the longer that he stayed - mere days going by before he found himself clinging to the edge of one particular dock, staring out at the dark world spreading out from the water he has settled within.

Days were spent watching couples giggling, lined arm-in-arm as they whisper to one another in some language he did not understand, or with children running full pelt - their feet thundering against the wooden planks above him, _the closest he dares to get during such light._

Nights were spent, with many staggering out of buildings, tankards in hand, while shouting and wobbling along the alleys winding away from where he rests.

He was smart after-all, and he knew that the best, _and safest,_ time for him to watch above the water was during the night - when his dark tail would be missable against the inky darkness, and no sun to shine against his golden features.

 

Or, it should be said, he is _usually_ smart. Usually - because one day, the sun starting to peak above the horizon, he felt a disturbance on the water surface.

It is a finger, idling playing along in an unseeable pattern, something he would simply ignore and venture away from. But this day, he found that it lead him closer and closer to the perpetrator.

He _thought_ the sun was enough to hide him, that he is far away enough that he would not be seen, and could continue to make this risk. Really, these were just last minute excuses thrown out while he edged closer, not paying attention to his own body as he watched the lone human.

 

They weren’t of a particularly small or large size, but were thin, and lay almost flat against the docks, red streaks of hair tickling the water, along with the finger being lazily dragged along.

Dion is lucky, as Ryan has no clue that he is being watched, _much less by someone who he didn’t know really existed_. As he too is transfixed by the way the water rippled around his finger, being softly manipulated by the magic tingling amongst the tip, circling and circling, while he straightened out his thoughts.

Some unknowable time passes, before he sighs softly to himself. This is the only sound made, before Ryan gets up - first propping up on his elbows, then knees, and finally to his feet. Twisting around behind him, he slung his bag back over his shoulder and glanced back once more, deciding to head back to the shop.

 

**A gold flash. Bobbing along the waves, gone almost the second it is seen.**

 

His feet faltered as he tried to twist further around, to see what the glistening that caught his eye is. But he didn’t know how wet the dock beneath him is, or how unbalanced of a position he had turned around in.

_Not until he crashed into the frigid waters, **and sees the flash again**_ **.** Under semi-normal circumstances, he would have tried to focus on kicking back up to the surface, if he had not seen this flash so many times. Blinking, Ryan swears he is seeing something real, a gold flash - once in front, then to the right.

It had now been four times, if it were just once he would have shrugged off as just being beams of sun.

It isn’t much of a conscious decision to stay under the waves, holding onto his breath and look wildly around trying to find its source.

 

Dion hadn’t meant for this to happen, he hadn’t been so close to being caught before, and all it took is one moment. One moment to be entranced,to not notice the apprentice’s head turn his way. If he hadn’t been so confused by the way the water seemed to mould unnaturally around his finger, neither of them would be in this situation... but now that they were, Dion couldn’t find it within himself to leave the human, when for all he knew he could be struggling to resurface.

 

By the time he reached the apprentice, Ryan had already remembered Asra’s teachings, taking a deep breath - knowing he no longer needed to worry about getting oxygen. He instead searched for this flash under the water more thoroughly.

They both freeze in an instant, eyes locking, one in panic, the other in confusion. Dion did not know much about the surface dwellers, everything being learned from his observations, but from what he had previously seen, human’s were not able to survive under the water so easily. They had no gills to process the oxygen in the water. _Yet here this one is_.

_Of course this anomaly is the one he had the bad luck of coming across, the one human he didn’t have to worry about leaving in the water to retreat to safety._

 

After a second to collect himself, and once he is sure that there is no danger to this human, Dion made to dash away.

Bubbles gush out of an open mouth, as Ryan tries to shout for Dion to wait, but no sound breaks through the incoming water.

Reaching out with his magic, the water is sent pushing back against the merman, propelling him back up to the surface to where the apprentice is swimming towards.

 

Moving wet hair from his face, Ryan smirks at Dion. Who blinks silently in return, confused about what just happened so fast, mouth opening and closing uselessly. Part of his mind is screaming at him to try and dash away again, hoping he would soon be forgotten by this strange human, but also knowing that the effort to do so would just be useless.

Instead, no words are expressed, just eyes searching one another, violet into hazel, panicked and searching for any hostility.

 

Dion is the first to move closer, his hand rising towards the apprentice, moving slowly. His want to look over this human outweighing his panic over being in such a compromising position. He wanted to use this first, **and hopefully only,** opportunity to come close to one of the surface-dwellers in his own territory.

 

Ryan’s mouth opens, most likely about to make some sort of flirty remark, when Dion’s hand clasps the side of his neck. His fingers trace along it, searching for the gills that he knows aren’t there, but still can’t help himself searching for. Wanting to know the reason that this human is able to stay under the water so comfortably.

 

“Handsy already, are we?”

A smirk is paired with this rhetorical question, but all that is returned is brows furrowed in confusion. _After-all, Dion is unable to understand what these noises mean,_ and so he paused only for a second, before continuing to search this odd human.

A faint blush starts to grow across Ryan’s cheeks, before he makes another attempt to communicate with the merman.

“Usually I’d expect to _at least_ have dinner first before bathing together - not that I’m complaining”

Again nothing, and the blush starts to grow more noticeable.

Dion circles around this floating body, before brushing fingers across the warming cheek, trying to understand what it is doing, and whether this flush is some sort of warning sign.

_Was it the same way you knew what fish to avoid, due to their bright colours? No, the human didn’t seem to be hostile..._

 

He grimaces, confusion and curiosity far outweighing his usual shy nature, and he dips under the water, before patting down at the legs lightly kicking there. Dion doesn’t understand that this could be taken much differently than just trying to figure out how a human’s body works, and he starts to smooth his hands down Ryan. In his mind, wanting to understand how these rigid limbs worked, much thicker and stronger than his own fins, yet so clumsy under the water.

 

‘Hey-ey! Not there!”

Ryan lurches away unconsciously when his thighs are squeezed experimentally, and he finds his balance floundering a little as he swallows some water in his efforts to move away.

 

The words fall upon no understanding ears, and the movements barely falter. So with a roll of his eyes, Ryan dips back under the water - if he is going to be felt up, it is probably much better to see what is coming than it to happen unexpectedly.

 

His head is barely back under the water, before fingers start to circle his waist, pressing against, and testing, the floating fabric of his shirt. They lightly trail up his chest once, and then back down, before holding both of his hips and squeezing. These hands rest lightly there, before Dion is swimming, circling around smoothly as he looks over his torso.

 

Blushing harder and harder, Ryan struggles to stay still, both from the feather-light touches, tickling his sides; and the oblivious, overly daring merman examining his body. This just seems to push Dion to further look him over - not understanding _why_ this human flushed so red at his touch, when all he is trying to do is figure out their differences and the ways his body works.

All that is going through his mind is trying to understand what is wrong with this human - _if he can live under the water with such ease, why does he have such a weird tail? One that does not help him move down here in any way._

 

Dion is clueless, continuing around, squeezing thighs, hips, arms, whatever he notices. Doing so with less shyness as he grows more restless, trying to figure out how Ryan worked.

It is the last straw, when Dion started, _once again_ pressing one hand back to where Ryan’s gills _surely_ should be, on his neck. _This isn’t what the issue is, of course_. The issue is when Dion reached for Ryan’s bottom lip, thumb playing against it lightly, to try and feel any use of water being pulled in or out.

A hand snatched up without much thought, gripping onto his wrist tightly to stop it moving. Ryan’s eyes widen, as he registers, and barely believes, how close their faces are now together. Their eyes meet for seconds, that seemed to drag on for much longer, as Ryan tries to control the panic he is feeling - _so much different than his usual composed, flirty self._

 

Something that Ryan is feeling _must_ have finally clicked on to Dion, because the merman lurches away, hands rigid at his sides. His cheeks flare up, unbelievably redder than Ryan’s are, as he sputters and looks about wildly.

Dion uses his teeth to play with his bottom lip in an anxious gesture, not registered by himself, as he instead tries to figure out how to act next. 

His swimming body is faltering a short distance away from Ryan now, and he brings his fingers to his mouth, now toying with his lip with his thumb - _almost in a similar way to how he just was with Ryan’s._

 

Ryan finally seems to collect himself, and reaches out to try and draw Dion close once again, show him that no harm has been done. However, the second his hand almost reaches Dion’s, the merman’s eyes widen and he dashes away - _disappearing before any attempt could be made to keep him nearby the Magician..._

Who just floats lamely in response, wondering _what_ just happened...


End file.
